Another Book from Another TV Newsie
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It seems that just about everyone in TV news has or is writing a book.
Fewer people are reading books these days, but that is not stopping TV news people from spitting them out.
Former CBS Anchor Scott Pelley is out with a new book, titled “Truth Worth Telling,” subtitled, “A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times.”
Of all the stories he covered, there is one that had the most impact.
“That would have to be 9/11,” he said “I was on West Street when those towers came down — that has to be a life-changing experience,” he said.
The chapter moves from the perspective of individual stories of those on the planes that were used in the terrorist attacks that day, to the perspective of New York Fire Department members, to the last hours of those trapped in the Twin Towers to his own.
One thing they all have in common is at first the confusion, and then disbelief, and eventually, the uncomprehensible horror of what the day truly came to be to New York, the United States, and the world.
It is unlikely that anyone could forget what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, or how it made them feel, but reading these first-hand accounts — getting to know these innocent lives, whether private or emergency responders, and knowing what their future holds, gives a whole new layer to the loss.
Pelley hailed a New York City cab after the planes hit and got as close as the cab would take him. He ran the last two miles through crowds of confused New Yorkers trying to get as close to the World Trade Center.
“I watched those firefighters of the FDNY go charging up those stairs, knowing the risk, against the chance that they might be able to save someone. Three hundred and forty-three members of the FDNY were killed in about 90 minutes on that day,” Pelley said.
“It was the greatest act of gallantry ever to grace an American city,” he said.
“I started with that chapter. It was the hardest chapter to write. I would literally cry so much that I couldn’t see the words on my screen anymore and I’d have to stop,” he said.
“I tell journalism students that empathy is the most important gift that a writer or reporter can have —with empathy you can put on those clothes of the people you are writing about but it is a double-edged sword because when you’re writing about tragic events, if you have empathy you are taking some of that on board yourself. I tell young people they have to recognize it and guard against it,” he said.
Pelley said it was years after 9/11 he recognized he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder — including anxiety and depression.
“Having a great spouse and a strong family is the best thing you can have - it is important to recognize internally those feelings and sort through them in a way that you can glean something positive,” he said.
